Book Review: Alex (Verhoeven, #2) by Pierre LeMaitre

In kidnapping cases, the first few hours are crucial. After that, the chances of being found alive go from slim to nearly none. Alex Prévost – beautiful, resourceful, tough – may be no ordinary victim, but her time is running out. Commandant Camille Verhoeven and his detectives have nothing to go on: no suspect, no lead, rapidly diminishing hope. All they know is that a girl was snatched off the streets of Paris and bundled into a white van. The enigma that is the fate of Alex will keep Verhoeven guessing until the bitter, bitter end. And before long, saving her life will be the least of his worries.

When reading through the Goodreads reviews for this book, Alex, it sounds as if the reviewers are divided into two camps: either you love this book, or you hate it.

I loved it.

From the start, we meet our main character, Alex. A man stalks her, kidnaps her, and puts her in a cage. He expresses his desire to watch her wither away. Meanwhile, the police starts an investigation into the kidnapping, and commandant Camille Verhoeven is set on the case. After his wife’s death, he rather stay away from cases of this nature, but the moment he starts investigating the kidnapping, he knows he can’t stop. He has to find this girl, and fast. But as the police gets closer to finding the culprit, they start to wonder – why did he kidnap Alex? Turns out that Alex may have some secrets of her own.

This book is riddled with the unexpected. At first, I thought it would be a cut and dry story of how a girl gets kidnapped, and the police tries to find her. But then, an unexpected twist hit me straight in the face, so to speak, and I was hooked. From that point on, there are twists everywhere. As we delve deeper into the characters and their pasts, we learn truths we never thought possible.

If you want a thriller that has it all, from a relentless pace, to shocking twists, to gruesome descriptions that make your stomach turn inside out, to characters you can’t decide whether you should like them or hate them, then you need to read Alex. I stayed up until 4 am to read this book – that’s how awesome it is. No self-respecting thriller fan can miss out on this one.

The Blogger

Majanka is twenty-six years old and she's loved reading from the moment she finished her first book. She has a Master of Laws degree, and is studying for her Master of Criminology degree. She's been blogging about books since 2010 and became an official reviewer for ind'Tale Magazine in September 2014. She promotes authors and sets up virtual book tours through Enchanted Book Promotions. She writes books for children and young adults. Find out more about her writing here. She also designs websites and graphics on I Heart Designs. On top of that, she's also the lead executive editor for Fear Front Publishing. Find her editing portfolio on The OverAchiever.

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